II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1440 

To ensure the safety of workers of contractors that serve and supply the 

Armed Forces and the accountable use of taxpayer dollars. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2017 

Ms. WARREN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To ensure the safety of workers of contractors that serve 

and supply the Armed Forces and the accountable use 

of taxpayer dollars. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Contractor Account5 ability and Workplace Safety Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CONTRACTOR WORK7 PLACE SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

8 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF KNOWN WORKPLACE SAFE9 TY AND HEALTH VIOLATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A contracting officer, prior 

2 to awarding or renewing a covered contract, shall, as 

3 part of the responsibility determination, consider any 

4 identified violations of the Occupational Safety and 

5 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) or 

6 equivalent State laws by the offeror, and by any cov7 ered subcontractors. 

8 (2) RESPONSIBILITY DETERMINATION.—The 

9 contracting officer shall consider violations described 

10 in paragraph (1) in determining whether the offeror 

11 is a responsible source with a satisfactory record of 

12 performance that meets mission and ethical stand13 ards. 

14 (3) REFERRAL OF INFORMATION TO SUSPEN15 SION AND DEBARMENT OFFICIALS.—As appropriate, 

16 a contracting officer shall refer matters related to 

17 violations described in paragraph (1) to the Depart18 ment of Defense’s suspension and debarment official 

19 in accordance with Department procedures. 

20 (b) CONTRACTOR RIGHTS.—The Secretary of De21 fense shall establish policies and practices— 

22 (1) ensuring that when making responsibility 

23 determinations, contracting officers request that 

24 contractors provide any and all information the conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Jul 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1440.IS S1440

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1 tractors deem necessary to demonstrate responsi2 bility prior to final determinations; 

3 (2) establishing mechanisms for contractors to 

4 have an expedited process to review any information 

5 used to support determinations of non-responsibility; 

6 and 

7 (3) establishing mechanisms for contractors to 

8 have an expedited process to appeal determinations 

9 of non-responsibility. 

10 (c) PROTEST RIGHTS.—The Secretary of Defense 

11 shall protect the rights of contractors to protest bids and 

12 appeal actions taken pursuant to this section. 

13 (d) TRAINING AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of 

14 Defense shall develop and provide clear training and guid15 ance to acquisition officials, contracting officers, and cur16 rent and potential contractors regarding implementation 

17 policies and practices for this section. 

18 (e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

21 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub22 mit to the Department of Defense and the congres23 sional defense committees a report on the health and 

24 safety records of Department of Defense contrac25 tors. 


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1 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

2 paragraph (1) shall include the following elements: 

3 (A) A description of the Department of 

4 Defense’s existing procedures to evaluate the 

5 safety and health records of current and pro6 spective contractors. 

7 (B) An evaluation of the Department’s ad8 herence to those procedures. 

9 (C) An assessment of the current incidence 

10 of health and safety violations by Department 

11 contractors. 

12 (D) An assessment of whether the Depart13 ment of Labor has the resources to investigate 

14 and identify safety and health violations by De15 partment of Defense contractors. 

16 (E) An assessment of whether the Depart17 ment of Labor should consider assuming an ex18 panded investigatory role or a targeted enforce19 ment program for ensuring the safety and 

20 health of workers under Department of Defense 

21 contracts. 

22 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES.— 

24 The term ‘‘congressional defense committees’’ has 


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1 the meaning given the term in section 101(a)(16) of 

2 title 10, United States Code. 

3 (2) COVERED CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 contract’’ means a Department of Defense contract 

5 for the procurement of property or services, includ6 ing construction, valued in excess of $1,000,000. 

7 (3) COVERED SUBCONTRACTOR.—The term 

8 ‘‘covered subcontractor’’ means a subcontractor list9 ed in the bid for a covered contract or known by the 

10 Department of Defense to be a subcontractor of the 

11 offeror. 

Æ 


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